Archive for the ‘Girl Scouts’ Category

AHG is a common sense inter-denominational faith-based character-development program for girls ages five through 18. My family embraces their Biblical worldview, traditional Christian values and critical thinking opportunities. Their recent announcement of a Respect Life Patch reinforcing AHG’s commitment to honoring life from conception to natural death is a breath of fresh air and a beacon of truth.

American Heritage Girls is a wonderful faith-based alternative to the Girl Scouts. It promotes a life-honoring culture, stresses the importance of service and espouses values that clearly delineate right from wrong. I also write about many of these shared values in my new book KING RULES, a Thomas Nelson release.

AHG girls participate in a wide array of badge programs, service projects, leadership opportunities and outdoor experiences. Troops representing more than 30,000 girls in 48 states can earn the Respect Life Patch by participating in an event that brings attention to respecting life or by providing a service project for an organization whose mission/purpose demonstrates a desire to respect life, such as pregnancy resource centers, pro-life groups and hospices.

When my Uncle ML spoke about his dream for a day when his children ‘will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character,’ the character he had in mind was founded on the teachings of the Bible, which include respect for life. With all the talk we hear today about choice, it seems that the choice of life is often overlooked and undervalued. I’m gratified that American Heritage Girls stresses the value God places on each individual and the importance of living a life that is pleasing to Him.

“We are honored to have Alveda’s endorsement and support,” says Patti Garibay, AHG executive director and founder. “She has been a tireless advocate for the unborn and a person whose life is dedicated to glorifying God in everything she does.”

Founded in 1995 in Cincinnati, Ohio, AHG currently has more than 30,000 members across the globe, with more than 720 troops in 48 states. In the past four years, it has experienced 40-50 percent membership growth annually.

Organizations like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Peoples’ Agenda, Girl Scouts, possibly the Boy Scouts and now the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), and individuals like Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. Jesse Jackson, and the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) are taking gifts, donations, and incentives from Planned Parenthood and other anti-life and anti-natural family organizations.

My grandfather Dr. Martin Luther King used to call this form of wandering from truth “nibbling sweet grass” with a little sheep wandering from his pasture into the temptations offered across the fence. The little sheep started nibbling a little bit until he swallowed the whole lot and caboodle and ended up with a noose around his neck.

This is what’s happening to people who take money from PPH. The organizations that want to promote sexual promiscuity, immorality, abortions, and non-procreative marital unions are following Margaret Sanger’s lead when she said that the undesirable people are like human weeds, she counted in that category the very poor, the African Americans and the disabled. The survival of the fittest was her premise. She said that to weed out the population you use an educational approach and you cultivate spokespersons from those communities, the African American community for example.

With the help of these organization and individuals, Margaret Sanger’s eugenics plan of exterminating the Black community is coming to fruition. First, it was birth control and The Birth Control League and now it’s abortion and Planned Parenthood.

That’s what’s going on now with the black journalists. A lot of their advertising money for their organization comes from Planned Parenthood. And to make matters worse, a large portion of the money that they spread around is our tax dollars given to them by our government.

By the way, my uncle Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. didn’t drink the Kool-Aid, he was pro-life. Let’s help our organization get back on the pro-life track too!

This article was sent to me by another pro-lifer. It has a lot of good information that again gives me reason for caution when dealing with the Girls Scouts. As Edmund Burke said, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” The abortion industry is welcome in the Girl Scouts organization and even though they should know better, the Girl Scouts are allowing the abortion/contraceptives industry’s ugly and intrusive presence. In their own words, the Girl Scouts “Does not take a position” on sexuality, birth control, or abortion. By not taking a position, they are allowing others to define their agendas. Parents should rise up and demand that so called friends of our daughters stop pretending to help girls while they are destroying them.

Article by Mary Hasson
March 11, 2013

The Girl Scouts’ Law insists that Girl Scouts be “responsible for what I say and do.” When it comes to abortion, however, the Girl Scouts USA “says” the magic words that keep pro-life members in the fold (i.e. that Girl Scouts “does not take a position” on sexuality, birth control, or abortion).

What they “do” behind the scenes is another story.

GSUSA’s hefty brand power—and funding—continue to fuel the pro-abortion advocacy of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (“WAGGGS”). And the Girl Scouts have refused once again to take responsibility for that.

I recently exchanged emails with two Girl Scouts USA spokespersons, Joshua Ackley and Michelle Tompkins, asking them to clarify the Girl Scouts’ “no position” stance in light of WAGGGS’ leadership on the pro-abortion Bali Global Youth Forum Declaration (December, 2012). Their responses highlight GSUSA’s corporate unwillingness to take any actions to distance themselves from WAGGGS’ global advocacy for youth “sexual rights” and abortion—even though WAGGGS claims to speak for all its members, including GSUSA.

First, realize how radical the Bali Youth Declaration really is: it asserts “sexual rights” for youth (including 10 year-olds) on nearly every page and demands, over a dozen times, youth access to “abortion” or “reproductive rights” and services. It marginalizes families—decrying parental consent and “age of consent” restrictions in sexual and reproductive matters—and casts religious objections to LBGT lifestyles as “religious intolerance.” Not surprisingly, the pro-abortionchorus embraces the Declaration.

There’s more to know about the Bali Declaration, but what’s most relevant here are the architects behind its design.

The Declaration reflects the handiwork of the Global Youth Forum’s International Steering Committee, a group stacked with abortion providers and abortion-advocacy groups, such as the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and the Youth Coalition.

Who else’s fingerprints are all over the Declaration? WAGGGS.

WAGGGS was heavily invested in formulating the Declaration. Its leaders,including WAGGGS’ Senior Advocacy Coordinator, not only served on the Forum’s Steering Committee, but also worked for six months on the Taskforcesthat shaped the conference agenda, the resulting Declaration, and follow-up activities. At the Bali summit, WAGGGS representatives facilitated breakout sessions and presented youth “recommendations” to the plenary sessions. Now WAGGGS promotes the Declaration and advocates for its implementation.

So that leaves the Girl Scouts with a problem.

In light of their officially neutral position on abortion, it should have been a no-brainer for the Girl Scouts to repudiate the radical, pro-abortion Bali Declaration. Or at least to clarify that WAGGGS’ does not speak for GSUSA when it advocates on sexual and reproductive matters, including the Bali Declaration.

We continue to receive reports that the Girl Scouts continue to support pro-abortion advocacy groups and continue to teach our young girls promiscuity.

You hate to think that it could be so; I know I do. Everyone loves their cookies, even if you don’t buy them because of weight issues, most everyone has tried them at one point or another. And although their cookies are good, the agenda of the Girl Scouts, at least at the National and International levels, is not good.

It’s my understanding that each Girl Scouts Council gets to decide what they will do and what they will teach our girls. However, they don’t get to decide where that money from the sale of the cookies will go.

In fact, of the $3.50 (cost of a box of cookies), the local troop only gets .59. The rest goes to other expenses and $1.89 goes to the Council to do with/partner with whoever they please.

So before you purchase a box of cookies from a local Girl Scouts troop, find out what they teach their scouts and what the Council does with their portion of the money.

Better yet, get involved with your local Girl Scouts Troop and start making a change from the inside.

Chuck Norris is in the news along with Dan Cathy of Chick-fil-A; both charged with promoting propaganda against the homosexual lobby. Both Chuck and Chick-fil-A have been broadly admired over the years; Chuck for his popular Walker, Texas Ranger series and karate and exercise regimen; and Chick-fil-A for family values backed up by sensational chicken menus sold only Monday through Saturday, closed on Sunday so employees can spend time with their families and worship God if they so choose.

Chuck is concerned that President Obama’s homosexual agenda will impact Boy Scouts of America. In a recent article Chuck said of Boy Scouts of America national board member and Ernst & Young CEO James Turley.

“But is Turley working on his own initiative, or has the White House prodded him with perks and favors?” Norris speculates. “Is it a coincidence that Turley came out swinging against the BSA’s century-old policy to ban gays from leadership and that he has such close affiliations with the pro-gay Obama Administration?”

The Girl Scouts of America has already been affected by the culture of death with the influences of the pro-abortion agenda and let’s not forget that the Girl Scouts of America recently ruled that a boy could be a Girl Scout.

As reported in a Baptist Press interview with Dan Cathy, “Some have opposed the company’s support of the traditional family. ”Well, guilty as charged,” said Cathy when asked about the company’s position.

“We are very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that.

“We operate as a family business … our restaurants are typically led by families; some are single. We want to do anything we possibly can to strengthen families. We are very much committed to that,” Cathy emphasized.

“We intend to stay the course,” he said. “We know that it might not be popular with everyone, but thank the Lord, we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on biblical principles.”

Why is it that when family values are brought to the table, the outcry against truth is so loud? Propaganda is defined as the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person.

The propaganda debate is not limited to the United States as reported by The Journal in Great Britain, “The “shadow” health minister of Great Britain’s Labour Party said of a Christian group that has made over 50 presentations to school children on abortion, “I think it is very wrong and the Government needs to step in because we can’t teach children at an impressionable age this sort of propaganda.” Diane Abbott criticized the organization Lovewise for telling children at mostly faith-based schools about the abortion/breast cancer link, the abortion/depression link, and other abortion consequences, “Sexual health education is supposed to be based on facts. These people are just pedaling bigotry.”

The prophet Isaiah said it best when he said, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” Isaiah 5:20

As the U.S. bishops take up an inquiry, parents continue to be concerned about the organization. Boys who ‘identify’ as girls are welcome to join in Colorado.

Quo vadis, Girl Scouts of America?

After years of on-going concerns about the organization’s direction, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has taken up the question of whether its current program is at all good for girls.

The bishops’ Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, chaired by Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Ind., will address “possible problematic relationships with other organizations, the issue of problematic programmatic materials and resources and other matters of concern.”

Yesterday, we looked at how part of the problem may stem from the fact that councils are free to set their own agenda, rather than strictly follow a national policy.

The bishops’ apprehensions fall into three major groups, accompanied by a host of smaller issues.

There are concerns about Girl Scouts USA’s ties to the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), the confederation of international Girl Scout groups that has exhibited pro-abortion and pro-homosexual agendas in many instances.

There is an ongoing question regarding the GSUSA’s connection to and involvement with Planned Parenthood and other groups that provide, promote or condone abortion and contraception.

And there is the issue of how GSUSA handles sexuality, sexual education and homosexuality.

Although the Girl Scouts claim to be neutral on the more political issues related to same-sex attraction, their leadership is larded with supporters of — and activities for — homosexual rights, and some of their educational material shows a clear bias in favor of homosexual issues.

As just one example, the current spokesman for the GSUSA is Joshua Ackley.

Under the name of Joshua Starr, he fronted the “homocore” (hardcore/punk music with homosexual lyrical themes) band the Dead Betties, which was founded in 2002 as part of the “queer punk” movement. The band’s lyrics and music videos are dominated by sexual content, violence and misogyny.
Ackley is in charge of media relations for the GSUSA and writes for the official Girl Scout blog.

In addition to Ackley, other members of the Girl Scouts’ leadership are active in homosexual-rights issues, including Lynn Cothern, the director of administration, and Timothy Higdon, chief of external affairs, who both worked with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Cothern recently resigned from GSUSA and, according to his Facebook page, now works as a “major gifts strategist: for Girl Scouts Cactus-Pine Council in Arizona.

In contrast to the Boy Scouts of America, the GSUSA has no official prohibition on homosexual persons in leadership positions or as members, saying there are “no membership policies on sexual preference.” Its official website links to numerous resources that promote abortion and the homosexual agenda, including same-sex “marriage.”

Same-sex issues are routinely included in Girl Scout materials about “diversity” and “tolerance.” Indeed, when the Boy Scouts were embroiled in a lawsuit about their right to refuse to allow homosexual men to be leaders, the GSUSA was quick to affirm its acceptance of homosexuals, saying, “Your sexuality has absolutely no bearing on your personal character. You can be a role model for a young man or woman regardless of your sexual inclination.”

Problematic Learning Material

Over the years, parents have encountered a variety of problematic educational materials and resources created for use by scouts and leaders.

The resource entitled “Your Voice, Your World: The Power of Advocacy” for the Advocate award includes a work page with which girls can complete the activity “Advocacy in My Own Life.” The example given is that of tennis player Martina Navrotilova, who “set a milestone for gay rights with her openness about her sexual orientation. She became an activist for gay rights and, in 1992, sued the state of Colorado over a ballot measure denying gays and lesbians protection from discrimination.”

“GIRLtopia,” for example, is a publication that “invites girls to consider how the world is far from perfect for girls around the globe. As girls take in this reality, they are invited to envision an ideal world — a society that consistently respects their needs, values and interests.”

On the page for “Utopias,” they begin with St. Thomas More (who coined the word) and then recommend Sherri Tepper’s novel, The Gate to Woman’s Country. Tepper’s book describes an “ideal” society in which men are subservient, procreation is managed in a twice yearly “festival,” and eugenics is the chosen path to perfection.

Aside from the thematic material that conflicts with the Catholic faith, there is a high degree of mature language and sexual content, notable even for a book recommended to high-school juniors and seniors.

Even worse is some content recommended for fourth-grade and fifth-grade girls. The book Agent of Change, billed as a book about “power,” has a profile of Marjane Satrapi and her graphic novel Persepolis, which includes page after page of extreme sexual content, drug use, Marxism and foul language. The book is intended for an adult audience, and much of the material is inappropriate for minors.

GSUSA recently made changes that will remove references to Persepolis and Gate to Women’s Country in future printings, as well as to Martina Navrotalova’s gay rights activities. In the meantime, girls can continue to use the materials, or the council will provide “stickers” for them to cover up the offensive content or replacement pages, available online. However, even after recent changes, some materials still refer girls to pro-abortion organizations like the ACLU, Amnesty International, and the National Organization for Women (NOW); role models like Betty Friedan, Margaret Mead, Gloria Steinam, Dolores Huerta (a pro-choice Catholic) and more; and sexually explicit websites like Jezebel.com, MarieClaire.com and others.

The 2011 “World Thinking Day” activity pack, aimed at ages 6-16, includes “sexual and reproductive rights.” The “AIDS Badge Curriculum” created by WAGGGS, and available to Girl Scouts, suggests having girls “role-play” negotiation for use of a condom during sex. One of the activities is to create a display to encourage use of condoms, instruct girls how to acquire them, demonstrate their correct use and distribute them.

Although GSUSA had said that it would not “take a stand on or advocate for or against any issue regarding a girl’s health and sexuality,” there continue to be problems with resources available to members. These are among the issues which the bishops hope to address, and GSUSA has already removed problematic links on its website and is revising some materials.

However, as recently as 2007, former CEO Kathy Cloninger said: “I feel like we cannot be the nation’s expert on girl issues without dealing with how issues of sexuality affect the girls of this nation. We believe parents are part of the discussion, but girl scouting needs to be part of education and discussion as well.”

Do the Girl Scouts no longer believe this?

Boys as Girl Scouts

In addition to these looming issues, the Girl Scouts are also now accepting boys who suffer from gender-identity disorders. The Colorado Council decided to accept 7-year-old boy Bobby Montoya because he “identifies” as a girl.

The Girl Scouts of Colorado said, “Girl Scouts is an inclusive organization, and we accept all girls in kindergarten through 12th grade as members. If a child identifies as a girl, and the child’s family presents her as a girl, Girl Scouts of Colorado welcomes her as a Girl Scout. Our requests for support of transgender kids have grown, and Girl Scouts of Colorado is working to best support these children, their families and the volunteers who serve them. … We are accelerating our support systems and training so that we’re better able to serve all girls, families and volunteers.”

This naturally raises the problem of boys being allowed to go on overnights with girls simply by “identifying” as girls. Mixed-gender overnights are normally forbidden.

GSUSA spokeswoman Michelle Tompkins says that “Girl Scouts of the USA is an inclusive organization focused on delivering a leadership experience for all girls in kindergarten through 12th grade. In situations involving transgender children, we handle each situation on a case-by-case basis so we can best handle the individual circumstances needed to address each issue. Of paramount importance to the Girl Scouts is the well-being of the child in question and the children in the troop (or the activity in question). We will take the steps we feel are necessary to ensure that all of the children involved have a safe environment in order to enjoy our programming.”

What the Church ius Doing

There are more than 3 million Girl Scouts in America. Some estimates suggest that perhaps 25% of them are Catholic or are in troops sponsored through a Catholic organization.

As concerns arose about the Girl Scouts, the U.S. bishops’ conference deferred to the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry (NFCYM), which defends the Scouts. Its initial response was to debunk, rather than address, claims made against the GSUSA.

In its most recent position statement released in February 2012, NFCYM acknowledged that, beginning in 2010, parents began to raise concerns “that GSUSA had taken an intentional position contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church on marriage, abortion, contraception and sexuality. In 2011 and 2012, the accusations continued. Our practice as an organization is to investigate, understand and then, if necessary, challenge such matters by going directly to the sources involved. As a result, NFCYM has been in direct contact with GSUSA leadership and has engaged in substantial conversation characterized by mutual respect and shared goals.”

NFCYM met with GSUSA and its new CEO, Anna Maria Chavez, “who has committed to continued dialogue.”

The GSUSA affirmed its “commitment to strengthening their relationship with faith communities and honoring the religious principles in their program resource material. Therefore, changes have recently been made to GSUSA’s print and Web program content as a result of the issues of concern raised by NFCYM and others. In addition, a thorough review of all GSUSA program resources is in process by GSUSA.”

Indeed, the GSUSA has been responsive to complaints in the past, removing some problematic links from its website and some offending material from learning resources.

Additionally, GSUSA and NFCYM will continue to work together to “more quickly and successfully address accusations and communicate factual information.”

Chavez, a Catholic, told Catholic News Service, “For nearly 100 years, we have partnered with the Catholic Church to support the growth and development of millions of girls. It is a wonderful legacy, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to participate in the process that will only enhance our partnership.”

Following this meeting, Bishop Rhoades met with his Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth and consulted with Robert McCarty and Kathleen Carver of the NFCYM. Bishop Rhoades reaffirmed “the good service that so many of our Catholic Girl Scout troops have provided and continue to provide at the local level, both to the Church and to the community at large. In the spirit of Blessed John Paul II’s apostolic letter Mulieris Dignitatem (1988), the Church ever seeks to hold up activity that promotes and fosters the dignity and vocation of girls and of young women. Catholic Girl Scout troops have served girls and young women for many years, and the committee is grateful for this service.”

However, “important questions still remain and need to be examined” at both a local and national level. Bishop Rhoades has requested that the committee “provide a resource(s) for local-level use that bishops can share with priests, youth and young-adult ministry directors, pro-life directors, educational and catechetical leaders and others. Such a resource(s) may include considerations related to the identity of Catholic troops and considerations that may be helpful for parents.”

He has requested that USCCB staff work directly with GSUSA and NFCYM to “identify and address remaining questions and concerns,” and has also invited his brother bishops “to communicate questions or concerns with me or the USCCB Secretariat of Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth.”

Tess Volanski, one of the co-founders of SpeakNowGirlScouts.com, which tracks problems with the organization from a Catholic perspective, remains concerned.

“Catholic parents and families need to understand that GSUSA is not just an organization that has made a few mistakes with questionable material,” she said. “The group has shown repeatedly, through their curriculum, media use, staff and other sources, that they possess a set of values in direct conflict with the teachings of the Catholic Church.

“In my opinion, Girl Scouts changing appears highly improbable. The general mindset of the organization has shifted, and for it to shift back to a wholesome scouting group, free from any sort of political agenda, would be verging on a miracle.”

Taken from an article that originally appeared on the National Catholic Register.

After years of questions and concerns about the Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA), the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is conducting an inquiry into the organization and its relationship with the Catholic Church.

In a recent letter, Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Ind., chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, briefed the country’s bishops on the committee’s “ongoing consideration” of the issue.

The main focus, Bishop Rhoades observed, is “possible problematic relationships with other organizations, the issue of problematic programmatic materials and resources and other matters of concern.”

There are more than 3 million Girl Scouts in America. Some estimates suggest that as many as 25% of them are Catholic or are in troops chartered through a Catholic organization.

The bishops’ conference is hoping to address long-standing parental and parish concerns regarding the appropriateness of Catholic girls joining the Girl Scouts. Their apprehensions center on three areas of concern, accompanied by a constellation of smaller issues.

First, there are concerns about GSUSA’s ties to the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), the confederation of international Girl Scout groups that has exhibited pro-abortion and pro-homosexual agendas in many instances.

Second, questions have been raised about GSUSA’s connection to and involvement with Planned Parenthood and other groups who provide, promote or condone abortion and contraception.

Finally, there is the issue of how GSUSA handles sexuality, sexual education and homosexuality.

One Family’s Awakening

Christy Volanski’s two daughters, Sydney and Tess, were both part of Girl Scouts. The girls had friends in their troop and enjoyed their experience, but after eight years of active scouting, Christy discovered that “the program was not in line with our personal faith and morals. The discovery of GSUSA’s ties to WAGGGS, a group advocating for accessible abortion and ‘sexual rights’ for youth, was upsetting. As members of Girl Scouts USA, we were automatically part of and supported WAGGGS, which, along with their controversial advocacy efforts, has a documented partnership to International Planned Parenthood Federation.”

The discovery led Sydney and Tess to begin SpeakNowGirlScouts.com, which tracks problems with the organization from a Catholic perspective, and one of the biggest problems is WAGGGS.

The organization dates back to 1928 and was founded to unite girl groups from around the world. But its mission and ideology have become anti-life.

In its role as an NGO (non-government organization), it has partnered with both the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which funds population control and “reproductive health” initiatives, and with the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and actively campaigned for sex education, contraception, emergency contraception and abortion (including abortion as part of “minimum packages of sexual and reproductive health services”).

A portion of the group’s website that had included this last phrase was later modified to read “sexual and reproductive health services should, as a minimum, be accessible, affordable and safe.”

HonestGirlScouts.com estimated how much of the Girl Scouts’ money goes to WAGGGS, based on the 2009 annual report.

With 3,330,429 registered scouts, it’s possible that GSUSA generated $39,965,148 in membership fees alone, if each one of the scouts paid the full membership fee. They also average about $700 million in annual cookie sales. GSUSA pays an annual quota fee to WAGGGS, which totaled $1,465,389 in 2009.

And just who makes up the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts? They’re mostly Americans. GSUSA makes up 43.98% of the WAGGGS membership, with second-place India making up only 16.04%, followed by the Philippines (8.77%) and the U.K. (6.79%), with the 117 other member countries accounting for the remaining 24.42%.

Based on the available numbers, this means that 64.4% of the WAGGGS budget comes from U.S. girls.

All of these connections disturbed Christy Volanski enough to prompt her to contact her local council and then the national office.

“They were indifferent to the WAGGGS information promoting abortion and ‘sexual rights’ for youth,” she said, “and attempted to distance themselves from that advocacy effort, although we knew from GSUSA that all members of GSUSA were also a part of WAGGGS.

“They also claimed to be neutral on the subject of abortion and birth control, despite the evidence that local Girl Scout councils were permitted by GSUSA to partner with the nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood.”

Planned Parenthood

The Girl Scouts’ connection to Planned Parenthood is a major area of concern.

In 2004, GSUSA CEO Kathy Cloninger admitted, “We have relationships with our church communities, with YWCAs and with Planned Parenthood organizations across the country to bring information-based sex education to girls.”

Since then, the Girl Scouts have issued a series of denials explaining that they have no relationships with Planned Parenthood. Its current statement is simply: “No, Girl Scouts of the USA does not have a relationship or partnership with Planned Parenthood.”

This is correct. Although figures in national leadership roles have ties to or support the agenda of Planned Parenthood, GSUSA tries to remain neutral on hot-button issues related to sexuality and abortion.

However, local councils are free to form partnerships, and there is evidence that some councils have done just that.

The connection between various councils and Planned Parenthood falls into several different categories. Sometimes, it is nothing more than the Girl Scouts appearing at a particular event along with Planned Parenthood, as the Girl Scouts of Northern California did in 2009 at the Women’s Policy Summit.

Other connections are more problematic, such as when various councils partnered with Planned Parenthood on their “Real Life. Real Talk” or “Nobody’s Fool” sex-education programs, as did councils in New York, Texas and Arizona.

In an annual report, Planned Parenthood of Western New York listed Girl Scouts of Western New York as a “community partner.”

Some issues that have generated a great deal of heat on the Internet are too sketchy to sort out.

The notorious, explicit Planned Parenthood pamphlet “Happy, Healthy and Hot” was allegedly discovered in a room at the United Nations that was used for a “girls only” workshop. The Girl Scouts deny that any of their people brought the pamphlet into the room or distributed it, claiming it must have been left there by a group who used the room earlier.

According to a Washington Times article, the Girl Scouts and Planned Parenthood handed out the semi-pornographic pamphlet “It’s Perfectly Normal” at a meeting in 2004, so it wouldn’t be unusual to find similar content at the same U.N. meeting that produced the WAGGGS’ demand for “sexual and reproductive rights” and “safe abortion.”

Organization

The problem comes down to organization. While the Boy Scouts of America have a strong central leadership that sets policy from the top down, GSUSA relies more on local leadership.

As GSUSA spokeswoman Michelle Tompkins observes, “Each council is a separate 501c3 organization with its own board of directors that is responsible for delivering the programming and membership to Girl Scouts. We can’t stress enough that Girl Scouts is a grassroots volunteer organization that is run mostly by parents in each community. The local volunteers, many in Catholic churches across the country, control what programming the girls receive. Parents, many of whom serve as troop volunteers, are actively engaged in those activities and well aware of what their girls are doing. The notion that a small band of individuals from a faraway place ‘control’ everything the girls see and do is simply fantasy.”

But reports of activities that depart from the traditional values that many families want to pass on to their daughters seem to add up to a pattern that makes many parents leery. Tomorrow, we’ll take a closer look at some of those.

Taken from an article that originally appeared on the National Catholic Register.

Your success depends on the quality of people you are connected to, and there are two types of people you’ll come in contact with throughout your lifetime:

1) Those who add and multiply, making you more than you are;

2) And those who subtract and divide, thereby devaluing you.

Never allow people into your life without knowing their agenda.

Find out where they came from and why they want to be connected to you.

When a person is in your life and your life is declining, they are not a God connection!

A healthy connection will protect your self-worth even when you’re experiencing a season of pain
or struggling with a failure in your life.

A true God connection will never abandon his assignment until you reach your full potential! Stay Blessed & have an Awesome God inspiring week.

Father, in the name of Jesus Christ the Son of the Living God, I pray you open doors for the person who shared this with me as well as those I am sending it to. Only you can open doors no man can close and for that we honour you today.

Thank you for the open doors of life, health, strength, prosperity in my soul, wisdom, wealth, and love. Also, thank you for closing the doors of death, sickness, weakness, despair, poverty, and bitterness. We love you today Lord and give you all the glory and all the praise. I seal this prayer in Jesus’ name, Amen!!!

If you need God to open a door, pray this prayer for the person who shared it with you and for those you are sharing it with. Believe in your heart and you shall receive what God has for you.

I need a door opened…

But even if you do not need God to open some doors for you, pass it on anyway.

MOTIVES

We really need to consider our motives and the motives of others as we enter into personal and professional relationships.

Many times we have good motives and we enter into a relationship with someone because they say that they too want to help others. And like a Trojan horse, we open the gates of our lives or our organizations to them only to find out that we had been lied to and they weren’t exactly who they say they were. Sure they do just enough good so that we continue to partner with them and we let ourselves be deceived about the harm they are doing. We don’t want to believe that such evil can exist. We don’t want to admit that we are participating in that evil by association. It’s easier on our conscience to deny that any evil is being done.

Organizations like Komen for the Cure, Girl Scouts of America, United Way, The Congressional Black Caucus, the NAACP, and Catholic Campaign for Human Development have formed such partnerships with organizations involved in the abortion industry. A recent media frenzy ensued when Komen tried to separate itself form Planned Parenthood such that, due to bully tactics on Planned Parenthood’s part, the partnership seems to still be intact. We encourage these and other organizations to re-evaluate their partnerships and break ties with those that devalue them.

To admit that we made a mistake is a difficult thing to do for anyone. Pride is a powerful vice. We all make mistakes. Admitting that a relationship or partnership is not a good one is the first step to overcoming pride and healing ourselves and our country.

In the midst of television, Skype, radio and print interviews this week leading up to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and the March for Life the week after, the media enjoys asking “what would Dr. King say about…?”

What would Dr. MLK say about Michelle Obama being an angry black woman? Uncle M. L. would pray for President Obama and First Lady Obama. I believe that because Uncle M. L. was a preacher, he would encourage the First Lady to “be angry and sin not.” Dr. MLK wanted people to love each other, not label and divide each other. As to being angry? Maybe Mrs. Obama should be angry about the high numbers of abortions in America especially due to the harm being done to Black women and Black babies by the abortion industry. Maybe as a mother she should be angry about the high rates of school drop outs. Maybe she should be angry about the high rates of women in the welfare system today. Maybe my saying this makes me an angry Black woman?

I believe Uncle M. L. would support personhood, life from conception until natural death. I believe he would be shocked about the high rates of abortion in the Black community, and about the money making abortion industry.

How about the Girl Scouts telling a girl she can’t wear a pro-life t-shirt in the office while she is off duty? Or telling mothers that they have no say in whether a boy can be a girl scout? Or promoting sexuality and working undercover with Planned Parenthood to promote a Happy, Healthy and Hot campaign. Actually, if you read Uncle M. L.’s Ebony Magazine Advice column, you can see that he would promote life and sexual purity today.

And what about the new Barbie doll campaign for breast cancer awareness? Uncle M. L. would want women to be whole and healthy of course. I just hope that Barbie doesn’t wear the Komen pink ribbon without including the information that abortion, artificial invasive birth control methods and breast cancer are linked. We want our women whole, healthy and happy, not happy, healthy and hot.

These are just a few “hot” issues leading up to what should be a very eventful first month of the new year. We will have a major election later in the year, and I truly believe that Uncle M. L. would encourage people to elect candidates who fear God and respect life.

Friends, in remembering my uncle, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. this season, please pause to consider that he was a man of God, who feared the Lord and cherished His commandments. Like every human being, he was not perfect, but he served a perfect God. My uncle was pro-life. He was pro-family. He loved everyone.

God bless you!

Please take a moment to check out my Birthday Wish on behalf of the cause Pray to End Abortion.

An Arizona college student who stopped in at her workplace wearing a pro-life t-shirt quit her job rather than obey a supervisor who ordered her to turn the “Pray to End Abortion” shirt inside out.

Renise Rodriguez, 21-year-old religious studies major at the University of Arizona, worked as a Girl Experience Associate for the Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona in Tucson. When she went to her office on Jan. 3 during her off-duty hours to prepare materials for a meeting, she was told twice by a supervisor that if she planned to stay in the office, or attend a troop meeting, she would have to turn her shirt inside out.

“I started to get emotional because of the way I was treated so I left without preparing for the meeting and told my co-worker that she would have to get the stuff together,” Miss Rodriguez said. “As I was driving out, I called a friend crying and told her the story. I was so shocked at the way I was treated. After contemplating it for the rest of that day, I decided to write my letter of resignation.”

Her letter did not specify her reason for resigning, but she plans to discuss it with another supervisor when she does her formal exit interview.

“It is the courage and conviction of young people like Renise that gives us hope that we are closer than ever to winning this battle and bringing an end to child killing in America,” said Bryan Kemper, Director of Youth Outreach for Priests for Life. “Priests for Life is committed to educating, activating and equipping young people to be a voice for life and young heroes like Renise prove this generation is a pro-life generation.”

Father Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, applauded the young woman.

“What does the pro-life movement need the most right now? It is not large numbers of people who believe abortion is wrong; it is a small, courageous band of people who are willing to risk and sacrifice everything to end abortion,” he said. “Renise is exactly that kind of person, who has not only the right attitude about abortion, but the passion it takes to make the protection of the unborn our number one priority! Our Youth Outreach, and all the branches of our Priests for Life/Gospel of Life Ministry, will continue to instill this spirit in those we serve.”

Noting the shirt Renise was wearing was designed by Stand True Ministry, a pro-life youth organization he founded, Kemper said, “We will be sending her several more of our pro-life shirts to help her stand up and be a voice wherever she is.”

Priests for Life is the nation’s largest Catholic pro-life organization dedicated to ending abortion and euthanasia. For more information, visit Priests for Life.